MJ Review: Wild Adapter Volume Three

[Jason]

Title: Wild Adapter
Volume: 3
Manga-ka: Kazuya Minekura
Originally Serialized in: Chara Comics (Tokuma Shoten)
Licensed By: Tokyopop
Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery
Rated: 18+

Wild Adapter, volume three, is probably the most cohesive volume of the series so far. Kubota and Tokito are coming into their own. To recap: Kubota is the rather emotionally dead, sociopathic, illegitimate son of The Shadow and worked for Senada, head of a Yakuza branch (and rival to Seikya) for a while. He quit the Yakuza about the same time he finds his ‘cat,’ a young man, Tokito who has an animal-like hand and no memory. Kubota has finally found someone to care for in Tokito and together, with occasional help from Kou, an unlicensed physician, and Kansai, Kubota’s detective uncle, they’re trying to find a drug called ‘Wild Adapter’ that turns humans into animal-like creatures before they die.

Just as Kubota finds out their apartment is bugged, he learns from Kansai there is a group called Fortune’s Fang, a cult that’s flourishing with the idea of going back to their animal roots. Thinking that it might have to do with W.A., the boys go to a Fortunes’ Fang seminar and meet Takizawa, a reporter.

After the seminar, Takizawa pulls the boys aside to have them go deeper undercover for him within Fortune’s Fang since he’s too recognizable as a TV reporter. Takizawa fills them in on all the dirt about Mitsuhashi, the lady leader of the group, and it’s not a pretty history. Predictably, the boys say no.

However, after some research and talking with Kansai, Kubota changes his mind. Kubota’s naturally distrustful nature keeps him out of trouble with both Fortune’s Fang, and Takizawa’s real motives, and he goes in hoping he’ll find the supplier of W.A. Naturally, things go awry. There is a nice side bonus of getting glimpses of Tokito’s past as the story hurtles towards the conclusion of this volume.

The art is a bit rougher than Minekura's Saiyuki Reload work but it’s still pretty good. Kubota and Tokito are quite attractive and there are definite homosexual undercurrents in the story, as per usual. The plot is here in spades and is not for the under 18 crowd, mostly due to explicit language, violence, sexual situations and occasional nudity. This series doesn’t have a lot of sound effects. Some are translated, some are not; I don’t mind that. There is a nice four-page art gallery at the end.

Reviewer: D.M. Evans
Proofer: Iliana
Editor: Lissa Pattillo